The Two Moralities

The most complete picture to date of the moral worlds of the political left and right and how their different views relate to specific political issues
 
The left and right will always have strong policy disagreements, but constructive debate is not possible when ideologies are distorted and weaponized to the point that there is no common ground for discussion. In this book, the social psychologist Ronnie Janoff-Bulman provides a new framework for understanding why and how we disagree.
 
She asks readers to consider the possibility that, amid the current poisonous politics in the United States, the motives of both liberalism and conservatism are morally based and reflect genuine concern for the country. Moral psychology is an invaluable lens for understanding the roots of political differences. Janoff-Bulman presents a “Model of Moral Motives” that maps the most fundamental motivations recognized by psychology—approach and avoidance—onto these differences. Conservatives’ motive to protect the group and liberals’ motive to provide for the group’s well-being help us understand why different positions resonate on each side of the political spectrum. Why, for example, do conservatives oppose abortion and favor unfettered free markets while liberals favor a woman’s right to choose and economic regulation? The two moralities ground these positions in naturally occurring psychological differences between liberals and conservatives and show why a well-balanced society, like a well-balanced individual, requires both sets of motives.

“"This cogent, brilliant book reveals the morality at both ends of the political spectrum. Janoff-Bulman is one of the smartest people in the room, and she says we need both. Listening to her might save our democracy."--Susan T. Fiske, author of Social Cognition "Ronnie Janoff-Bulman expertly debunks recent canards in moral psychology: that liberals are more individualistic than conservatives; that conservative morality is broader or more extensive than liberal morality; and that we, as a society, can hope to succeed on the basis of a social order that is lacking in social justice."--John T. Jost, author of Left & Right: The Psychological Significance of a Political Distinction "What's the fundamental difference between conservatives and liberals? Ronnie Janoff-Bulman delivers a cogent, evidence-based answer that challenges the received wisdom and dissipates the partisan fog--an illuminating book."--Joshua Greene, author of Moral Tribes: Emotion, Reason, and the Gap Between Us and Them”

“This cogent, brilliant book reveals the morality at both ends of the political spectrum. Janoff-Bulman is one of the smartest people in the room, and she says we need both. Listening to her might save our democracy.”—Susan T. Fiske, author of Social Cognition

“Ronnie Janoff-Bulman expertly debunks recent canards in moral psychology: that liberals are more individualistic than conservatives; that conservative morality is broader or more extensive than liberal morality; and that we, as a society, can hope to succeed on the basis of a social order that is lacking in social justice.”—John T. Jost, author of Left & Right: The Psychological Significance of a Political Distinction

“What’s the fundamental difference between conservatives and liberals? Ronnie Janoff-Bulman delivers a cogent, evidence-based answer that challenges the received wisdom and dissipates the partisan fog—an illuminating book.”—Joshua Greene, author of Moral Tribes: Emotion, Reason, and the Gap Between Us and Them

Ronnie Janoff-Bulman is professor emerita of psychology and brain sciences at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and the former editor of the journal Psychological Inquiry. She is the author of Shattered Assumptions: Toward a New Psychology of Trauma. She lives in Amherst, MA.

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